The Importance of Specialized Legal Support for Professionals with Jasen Dalus

Transcript

Disclaimer: 0:01

This podcast is for educational purposes only, does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you need legal assistance about a legal problem, contact an attorney.

Cimone Murphree: 0:15

Well, good afternoon. Mr Dalus, Thank you so much for being with us. We’re very excited to have you on the show. How are you doing?

Jasen Dalus: 0:23

Good, good, I’m excited to be here. I’m fired up man, so it’s been good. Today’s been great.

Cimone Murphree: 0:29

Good, Well, we have word that you are here today to talk to us about a few different topics but really all having to do with, you know, finding an attorney or seeking an attorney within professional license defense. Is that correct?

Jasen Dalus: 0:48

Yeah, absolutely Absolutely. So I’m excited, man. Any questions you guys have for me, I’ll be more than happy to discuss and really excited about being on this podcast today.

MJ Hooper: 0:59

Well, before we get started, Jasen, why don’t you introduce yourself to our viewers and listeners and tell them how long you’ve been here and the role you play within our firm?

Jasen Dalus: 1:07

Absolutely so. I’ve been here for about six months now. I’m the client success liaison. Even in my past, you know, every position that I’ve had has been client focused and really I like to say people focused. And so here, as the client success liaison, I’m essentially the first person that our potential clients speak to, just to see if we’re a good fit and if our firm is a good fit for them and if they feel like we’re a good fit for them. And another part of my job is to also follow up with them throughout their case with the legal team, just to see how I can help them and just to see how I can relay any messages back to the team, but also to make sure that their experience here is bar none. So you know, my job is what my title is is to make sure our clients have success with us. So that’s what I do.

Cimone Murphree: 1:54

So you work very closely with our attorneys and our clients, correct?

Jasen Dalus: 1:59

Absolutely so. I’m essentially like the middleman, but, yes, I work very closely with both the legal team and our clients that come in.

Cimone Murphree: 2:07

Can you talk a little bit about, you know, employment law and administrative law. I know that they can, you know, sometimes commingle, but there are some differences between them.

Jasen Dalus: 2:22

Right, yeah, and I think with most people we specialize in professional licensed defense, and so the reason why sometimes those two worlds merge together is because all of our attorneys are administrative attorneys, and so when someone normally gets you know an allegation or in trouble at work, if they’re a licensed individual, well, that’s where, you know, an admin lawyer comes into play, right? I guess where the lines merge is because most of these times these people are getting in trouble at work, and so that’s where sometimes the world’s type of you know co-mingle together, but it’s specifically with licensed, you know, licensed professionals, right. And so, regardless of how or where they got in trouble, if their license, you know, is potentially in jeopardy or not, or if they could be, you know, in jeopardy, then our attorneys are the ones that really you know are the ones that are an attorney.

Cimone Murphree: 3:16

Yeah, it might be kind of tough sometimes and hard for clients to really figure out how to differentiate one from another.

Jasen Dalus: 3:26

Yeah, absolutely. And, like I said, I think it’s. You know, if that individual has a license, a state issued license, so professional license, in any of the industries they have, they have to go take a test to get a license to do their job. And if they’re, you know, in trouble potentially and that license could you know be in jeopardy, then an administrative lawyer is exactly who you need. So that’s how I differentiate it myself.

MJ Hooper: 3:52

I would also interject that not always do people come to our firm just for complaints or investigations. Our office also does consulting work. Our office also does consulting work. So sometimes if someone, if an individual, wants documents to be reviewed, our admin attorneys will review those and also there’s opinion letters. That get done if a decision has been reached and they need our assistance. So not always is it based off of an investigation and or complaint.

Jasen Dalus: 4:23

Absolutely, and I like that. You said that, mj, because most admin attorneys will first off. Being an administrative attorney is a niche market. I’m not an attorney, but I learned that working here right, it’s not everybody does admin law and the ones that you do find that possibly does admin law unless you’re under investigation they don’t necessarily hop in. So our firm really is one of the firms that will do pre investigative work Right.

Jasen Dalus: 4:51

And so, like Melissa said, you know legal opinions. If you have a business and there’s a license that is attached to that business and you want to make sure that you know you’re doing things according to your board, so the board doesn’t come back and say something later on, then we do that. So our attorneys will do a legal opinion. They’ll do consulting right. Well, you know they’ll be able to consult to make sure that what you’re doing and how you’re operating is in line not only you know with how you’re doing your business, but is in line with how your board and the rules and regulations that your board put in place for your license. And so I think we’re doing some great work honestly and I’m biased, but I do.

MJ Hooper: 5:30

I think we’re all biased at this point, Jasen.

Cimone Murphree: 5:33

There you go. You know that you’re doing things according to the board, not according to your employer or employment standards or things like that, and that’s you know where a lot of that differentiation kind of comes into play.

Jasen Dalus: 5:48

I would say Right, right, absolutely, and that’s important, right. I mean, no matter what, you want to make sure that, if you’ve, you know, studied, worked hard, you know I’ve had people call us that’s had their license for 30 plus years. I mean, they’ve been on a winning streak for 30 years and out of nowhere they get a letter right. The board is investigating them for something and they start to panic, and so you want to make sure that you’re protecting your bases and you’re protecting your livelihood, and that license is extremely important, right, and we’re here to protect that. So I like that about us.

Cimone Murphree: 6:22

I have another question too. Can you tell us a little bit just about maybe some common themes that you’ve seen as client success, liaison with potential clients or even new clients coming into finding an attorney, you know, are there some common misconceptions that you’ve heard of or common patterns of practice that may have led them astray before they found us?

Jasen Dalus: 6:54

Yeah, yeah, I think that when they hear the word investigation in anybody, you know I’m an avid law and order watcher.

Jasen Dalus: 7:04

So, there is no law and order show on admin attorneys, right, it’s either the district attorney or that’s it, right, it is the district attorney versus the criminal defense attorney, right? So I think when people get a letter from the board and they they see the word investigation, they run to a criminal defense attorney, right, and and and granted, depending on the allegation, whatever. Maybe those worlds will intertwine too, just like employment law, admin law intertwines, right? But when they see the word investigation from their particular board, and that’s a letter from the board getting sent to them, they’ll run to a criminal defense attorney and you know they’ll. They’ll hear rates that are out of this world, but that’s because that particular attorney specializes in protecting your freedom. He and the and the Bertolino law firm specializes in protecting your license, and so the difference is, when you get an investigative letter from the board, an administrative attorney is the one that you want to be looking for. So there’s times that, you know, I get on a call with our potential clients and they’ve called 20 different attorneys and at that point when they get to us, they probably think we’re the same one as these guys, and so what they’ll do is they’ll, you know, they’re probably price shopping and they’re just looking for the cheapest, cheapest attorney, and, and it’s because, in that process of them finding an attorney, they were looking at the wrong attorneys and and and at the end of the day, you know, an administrative attorney is what you need, right?

Jasen Dalus: 8:33

And so when you think about it, especially this being a specialized niche, right? I mean, you wouldn’t go to a dentist for open heart surgery. That’s just not what you would do. You wouldn’t do that. It’s a different outcome. The dentist is going to do what the dentist knows how to do. Open heart surgeon is going to do what an open heart surgeon does, and so it’s the same. It’s the same thing when it comes to choosing the right attorney for the right problem you’re facing, or the right issue that you’re facing, if it has to deal with your license, and admin attorney is what you’re looking for.

Jasen Dalus: 9:08

And so one of the misconceptions is you know, people think that all lawyers are the same. They’re not right. We all have not we but they all have a scope and they have an arena, they all have a representation that they deal with and your license is an admin lawyer. So that’s one of the misconceptions, simone. I would say that a lot of people have. You know.

Jasen Dalus: 9:27

Again, another thing is you know, if that letter comes and you see your board name on it and investigation, you know it’s best to for sure find a way to get yourself you know a legal representation from the jump, from the beginning, right? I think some people, what they’ll do is, you know they’ll they’ll try to handle it on their own and see if I could just let me just let me just respond and fix it and let me just send a letter and and and. What happens is at some point maybe you’re going to need to get an attorney. So if you’re going to get it, if you’re going to maybe need an attorney down the line, it’s just best to get one from the beginning and let them handle it from day one to be able to have a, you know, a better end result in the end.

MJ Hooper: 10:08

And take the stress off of you.

Jasen Dalus: 10:10

Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I mean, I mean, if you were, if you were, you know, if I was getting charged with a criminal crime, I wouldn’t show up to court to speak to the DA by myself. You know, if I was getting charged with a crime, I wouldn’t go sit down and go talk to the judge, but no, I would get an attorney. So if it’s the same way in the criminal, you know, like I said, if I’m going to represent myself, I wouldn’t do that Right. And so it’s the same thing when it comes to our licenses is that if they’re in jeopardy, you want to have the right representation on your site.

MJ Hooper: 10:42

And just a quick reminder everyone these notices come via mail. Yes, these agencies are still working with USPS, so please pay attention to your mailbox, Get those notices and read them. It’s very important.

Cimone Murphree: 10:58

Update your address If you move, update your address so you can receive that snail mail. It will make your life way easier if you do than if you don’t. Very true, which you know, is a little bit of know your regulators kind of geared towards that, and a little bit of know your regulators kind of geared towards that. And MJ and I, you know, work to provide licensees with every possible aspect of information that the board is willing to give you to you in one streamlined place so that you’re not having to go look all around for it. You know, through various mediums podcasts, bulletins we want to make sure that you have the information from the board so that you can be successful in your industry, in your career, and not have to worry about what is this notice coming from. You know why. Why did I receive this? You stay up to date. You keep, you know, all your boxes checked and and follow the rules and should be good.

MJ Hooper: 12:09

Stay out of trouble.

Cimone Murphree: 12:14

You know things happen, but that’s that’s, that’s why we’re here and that’s why we’ve we’ve got Jasen, you know, guiding all of our clients In the end. We want you to be successful. We want your license to you know be successful as well you back off of that too.

Jasen Dalus: 12:42

It’s, you know. You want to make sure that the the firm and the attorneys that you choose know what they’re doing. You know, I mean, this is your livelihood, this is your license. Some, some of our clients have businesses, they have practices. They own their own you know plumbing company. They own their own doctor’s office. They own their own uh, you know insurance company. Right, these are people that not only do they have a license, but they’re the people that work for them are all licensed as well, and so a lot of the times is, you know, if your particular license is under investigation, it’s not just you that, you know, has the repercussions, it’s the people that you hired as well, and so you want to make sure that the attorneys that you hire are the ones that are going to protect not only you but protect your business as well.

Cimone Murphree: 13:26

So, Jasen, can you tell me a little bit about just kind of the varying costs that you may have seen throughout representation too? I know that that’s on a lot of people’s minds. Sometimes, like you said, there are people who will go and they’ll kind of shop around, so it is definitely something that people factor in. You know what? What’s been your experience with pricing and administrative?

Jasen Dalus: 13:57

law. Know, some of our clients, they’re, they’re prepared, they don’t. They understand. Hey, you know, I need to protect my license at all costs and and um, they’re ready to rock. And then I have some people too that that’s, that’s their main main concern, right? And so it really just, you know, as a conversation, it’s honestly just a conversation with that potential clients. You know, hey, if you’ve been working on your license for 15 years, 20 years I mean you do CEs every year, you do continuing education, you do courses, you, you invest in yourself, you invest in your growth. You become a better. You know, agent, doctor, lawyer, dentist, you become a better.

Jasen Dalus: 14:41

Whatever it is in your profession, you are investing in yourself to master what it is and the arena that you’re in, investing in yourself to master what it is in the arena that you’re in, and then boom, somebody makes an allegation against you and your whole world comes crashing down. Well, the price of what it’s going to take to help and protect that isn’t necessarily the most important, right? And so sometimes I have to have that conversation with our clients to make them realize that you know, it’s not the cost of how much the attorneys is going to, you know it’s going to cost to protect the license. It’s how much it’s going to cost you to not have an attorney. That’s the real main cost, right, it’s. It’s what is that going to look like, right, if I try to just defend myself and talk to the investigators and talk to the lawyers and talk to the judge and just try to plead my case? Well, the cost of that is that income you make every year. The cost of that is your business. The cost of that is maybe the license, right, so it’s not what it’s going to cost me to get this solved, it’s what is it going to cost if I don’t get it solved.

Jasen Dalus: 15:42

And so that’s the main thing that I have to have a conversation about with a lot of our clients, and they understand that. And when you think about it, you know our lawyers in-house I mean combined have over 25 years of experience, right, and we all specialize. Every single attorney specializes in administrative law. So it doesn’t matter which attorney is on your case. They know what they’re doing, they know the rules and regulations of your particular board, they know how to operate, right, we do. We make sure that you know. They do their own legal research to make sure that they’re giving you facts. And so, again, you’re not just having a rookie attorney, you’re having somebody that knows what they’re doing and that’s going to protect your particular license. And so, when it comes to pricing, it’s just a simple conversation with our clients to get them to understand that, hey, this is important and we know what we’re doing.

Jasen Dalus: 16:32

And so that’s one of the things that I think that when we’re sitting down with anybody and when I’m sitting down with anybody is that you know this is a specialized niche and so sometimes that goes into play with you know, just like any. You know, again, a dentist, a neurosurgeon doctor. I mean, if you’re comparing a neurosurgeon to a family doctor, they’re both equally important, they’re both specialized in their field, they’re both doctors, right. So neither one is lesser than the other. But if I have a problem that I need, you know, to get my brain checked out, I’m going to a neurosurgeon Right. My brain checked out, I’m going to a neurosurgeon Right. And understanding that I’m going to a specialized surgeon is higher, more money, like it’s just the co-pays are different.

Jasen Dalus: 17:17

It’s just the fact right, you know what I mean. Like, yeah, co-pays are different insurance, you know. Or asking a little bit more questions. Like it’s just a fact, right, if I want to go to a holistic doctor, a natural doctor. Like it’s just so, specialized people cost more.

Jasen Dalus: 17:38

And in an admin law, the minute you get a license, you know you’re also specialized too, right, and everybody that has a license, you’re specialized in your field, right.

Jasen Dalus: 17:44

And so some of the time in the conversation that I’m having with you, know some of some of our clients, you know they own practices and in in, in the most loving way possible, I I try to explain to them. Well, hey, you know, I’m sure your prices are a little bit more more up there than somebody else, right, because why? Your experience? You’re specialized, you know what you’re doing. It’s no different than having your attorney, right? And and honestly, I wouldn’t want to go the cheap route with getting my attorney. I think I’m going to, I think I’d like to go a route with that that will protect me, protect my business, protect my license. So the pricing isn’t an issue If you’re making your clients understand and that’s what we do is. It’s not about the price for us, it’s about making sure that you know we’re on our client’s side and we want them to understand that we have their best interest at heart.

MJ Hooper: 18:28

Well, we appreciate your time today, mr Jasen. I hope our viewers and our listeners got some important, helpful information to help guide them on their path.

Disclaimer: 18:28

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